In bodybuilding: how your muscles work, ideas for workouts, tips and nutrition

Bodybuilding is a discipline with the idea of working out to shape your body the way you want, by moving the specific muscle tissue, reaching the benefits of health too and getting help from nutrition and adequate safety supplements.

This discipline allows you to develop muscular mass if you practice it with consistency.

Training affects glycogen use during activity in 2 ways:

1) If you workout and deplete your glycogen stores, your body adapts to store higher amounts of glycogen to support the work.

2) If your muscles are enough trained, they will burn fat with more efficiency, requiring then less glucose to perform the same work.

Muscles respond to physical activity according to the amount of it

Specific tips to know

With this activity, there are some special health benefits and not only on your looks:

If your diabetic, and you learn how to moderate your physical training, you can get to influence your glucose metabolism, sometimes even reducing your daily drug doses (insulin or insulin eliciting drugs).

Some nutrition facts for bodybuilding and how your tissue is build

To build the tissue and maintain its structure, you will need an adequate protein intake.

It is important to know that the body handles protein differently during activity than when you're resting.

If you have worked out, hours after, when you're resting, the muscles speed up their protein production. Then, the body goes into a process of building and desmantling proteins. In order to build, you need aminoacids, and the way to get them is usually through your diet.

Your muscle cells have a specific gene that knows exactly which type of proteins you need for any physical activity and apparently the intensity and pattern of muscle contractions initiates the signals.

When the cells have decided about the proteins they needed and when they needed them, protein nutrition comes into play. During active muscle building phases of training, a person lifting weight might add to the existing muscle mass 7-28 grams of protein each day, which of course comes, from ordinary food.

A low carbohydrates diet may help to lose weight and help your muscle mass

How much protein do you need bodybuilding?

The protein needs of bodybuilders and weight lifters are higher than those of sedentary people, but not as high as many bodybuilders consume (something that can be problematic for the kidneys) and if you they don't ample with enough carbohydrates, they might burn off the protein they wanted to retain.

Then the question is: How much protein would you need if you're working out for building muscle tissue?

You'll need to get professional assesment and advice from a specialist in order to evaluate your needs. This person can also tell you about the pros and cons of many different supplements available, but best is that you also get documented to be able to understand their effect and possible benefits or risks.

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) recommends higher protein intakes as follows: 0.8 grs. of protein / kg of body weight. (Of course this guide is for active people. Sedentary persons need much less.

If you're getting enough carbohydrates and protein as other nutrients as well, it is less likely that you need to consume special foods, protein shakes or bodybuilding supplements.

Protein and amino acid supplements

For Bodybuilding, weight training is an enjoyable activity

Return from Bodybuilding to Lifetime Fitness Nutrition Homepage